Sam Carter was angry. Actually majorly pissed off covered it more
adequately. But then she felt perfectly justified. She was 16 after
all.slamming doors, sulking and screaming rows were practically
compulsory.well maybe not the last bit but it wasn't her fault - not all
the time anyway. Who was he to tell her SHE wasn't dealing properly with
her mum's death.someone who'd buried himself in his work since her funeral
had no right to criticise! It wasn't true what he'd said. She didn't blame
him, or even the Air Force for her death anymore. She'd got over that a
long time ago, but Mark did. And every time he put work before her and Mark
the wedge between the two of them got deeper and wider. "ATTENTION SEEKER!"
Well he was right about that. But someone had to do SOMETHING to get him
home. Maybe she had been out of order. Maybe she shouldn't have stormed out
like that. But no way was she going back for at least another couple of
hours. He'd worry - but he deserved it. Lumping her with a mentor instead
of actually facing up to their problems. Not that her 'mentor' was THAT
bad. Just some poor airman on probation.how the hell could he know what she
was going through?
Captain Jack O'Neill (USAF) stared moodily into his beer. Well, that had been a humungeous success - not! He'd been rather looking forward to meeting this kid. Some angry delinquent boy.that'd be cool. But there'd been some mix up and he'd spent half the previous evening chatting to this blonde with incredibly intelligent blue eyes. He'd even started to forget why he was there until they'd found out why each other were there. The change in her was incredible. She'd gone from all smiles and slightly flirtatious friendliness to cold aggressive silence. Whatever was making her so angry it was serious and he had no idea how to help. What the hell did he have in common with a 16 year old girl who, despite clearly going off the rails at break-neck speed, still looked set to graduate top of class and two years early?
She'd been walking for hours now, not really seeing where she was going. She looked around wondering where the hell she was. Great, she thought, I'm lost! Letting her feet guide her she kept walking and let her mind drift. She felt kinda bad for the way she'd acted. It wasn't his fault they'd been lumped together like that.stupid bloody Air Force.what did they have in common - nothing. Grrr! She felt the anger course through her veins. It was then that she saw him. Wandering along aimlessly glaring at the stars. She wondered briefly about fate, destiny and higher powers with bigger agendas before snorting derisively.there was no logic or deeper meaning to it. Things just happened - reflecting the chaos from which it came It didn't matter what you did in your life. the end was immutable.you died anyway. Evil always won and the good guys died far too young. She swallowed the lump in her throat and pushed away the involuntary thoughts of her mum. No, she would NOT cry! So caught up in her thoughts was she that she walked straight into her 'mentor'. Such was her momentum that she nearly sent them both flying. "Woah, there kid! I know you don't like me but that's no reason to try and kill me!" The sarcasm laden, Chicago accented voice of the man she'd collided with brought her back to reality with a bump and, as his words sank in, her grief condensed into anger. Pulling away from the out-flung arm that had stopped her fall she glared hostilely at him. "Don't call me 'kid'. I'm not a little kid anymore - I wish everyone would stop calling me that and treating me like one! I mean I'm 16! That's practically an adult." she ran down. He was just standing there. Watching her intently.taking in every detail of every expression on every feature of her face. No smart alec retort. No trade-mark sarcasm. Not even the obligatory 'well, maybe if you stopped acting like one' line. Nothing. He just stood there for a long moment letting the silence between them stretch out. For a fleeting moment she had the curious feeling that he could see through her skull and into her very being and strangely she didn't find it at all creepy.In fact she found herself wanting him to see all her flaws and tell her how to fix them. His probing gaze came to rest on her eyes and, so softly that but for the silence she would have missed it, he said sadly "No, you're not are you? Not anymore." She wanted to cry. God, she was going to cry. How dare he make her cry?! "Bastard" she spat. She intended to thump him senseless but found the anger disappearing into the great big pit of soul-crushing desire it usually hid and found her self able only swing her fists impotently against his chest and arms over and over repeating "shutupshutupshutupshutupshutup" over and over. Tears she'd never been able to let her self cry coursing down her face as she collapsed into his arms as he let her take comfort in him. Letting her for the first time in who knew how long, not have to be the adult. As he stroked her hair she clung to him desperately.knowing somehow that she could safely be a kid as long as he was holding her. She was safe there for as long as she needed to be. Safer than she'd been in a long time.
Captain Jack O'Neill (USAF) stared moodily into his beer. Well, that had been a humungeous success - not! He'd been rather looking forward to meeting this kid. Some angry delinquent boy.that'd be cool. But there'd been some mix up and he'd spent half the previous evening chatting to this blonde with incredibly intelligent blue eyes. He'd even started to forget why he was there until they'd found out why each other were there. The change in her was incredible. She'd gone from all smiles and slightly flirtatious friendliness to cold aggressive silence. Whatever was making her so angry it was serious and he had no idea how to help. What the hell did he have in common with a 16 year old girl who, despite clearly going off the rails at break-neck speed, still looked set to graduate top of class and two years early?
She'd been walking for hours now, not really seeing where she was going. She looked around wondering where the hell she was. Great, she thought, I'm lost! Letting her feet guide her she kept walking and let her mind drift. She felt kinda bad for the way she'd acted. It wasn't his fault they'd been lumped together like that.stupid bloody Air Force.what did they have in common - nothing. Grrr! She felt the anger course through her veins. It was then that she saw him. Wandering along aimlessly glaring at the stars. She wondered briefly about fate, destiny and higher powers with bigger agendas before snorting derisively.there was no logic or deeper meaning to it. Things just happened - reflecting the chaos from which it came It didn't matter what you did in your life. the end was immutable.you died anyway. Evil always won and the good guys died far too young. She swallowed the lump in her throat and pushed away the involuntary thoughts of her mum. No, she would NOT cry! So caught up in her thoughts was she that she walked straight into her 'mentor'. Such was her momentum that she nearly sent them both flying. "Woah, there kid! I know you don't like me but that's no reason to try and kill me!" The sarcasm laden, Chicago accented voice of the man she'd collided with brought her back to reality with a bump and, as his words sank in, her grief condensed into anger. Pulling away from the out-flung arm that had stopped her fall she glared hostilely at him. "Don't call me 'kid'. I'm not a little kid anymore - I wish everyone would stop calling me that and treating me like one! I mean I'm 16! That's practically an adult." she ran down. He was just standing there. Watching her intently.taking in every detail of every expression on every feature of her face. No smart alec retort. No trade-mark sarcasm. Not even the obligatory 'well, maybe if you stopped acting like one' line. Nothing. He just stood there for a long moment letting the silence between them stretch out. For a fleeting moment she had the curious feeling that he could see through her skull and into her very being and strangely she didn't find it at all creepy.In fact she found herself wanting him to see all her flaws and tell her how to fix them. His probing gaze came to rest on her eyes and, so softly that but for the silence she would have missed it, he said sadly "No, you're not are you? Not anymore." She wanted to cry. God, she was going to cry. How dare he make her cry?! "Bastard" she spat. She intended to thump him senseless but found the anger disappearing into the great big pit of soul-crushing desire it usually hid and found her self able only swing her fists impotently against his chest and arms over and over repeating "shutupshutupshutupshutupshutup" over and over. Tears she'd never been able to let her self cry coursing down her face as she collapsed into his arms as he let her take comfort in him. Letting her for the first time in who knew how long, not have to be the adult. As he stroked her hair she clung to him desperately.knowing somehow that she could safely be a kid as long as he was holding her. She was safe there for as long as she needed to be. Safer than she'd been in a long time.